Lisa Papp's Garden Diary with Anthea & Marigold

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

I have the loveliest sunflower this year. Tall, big flowers,
and branches like trees.

It came from a packet called “organic mix”. Inside were
several seeds of different sizes and color. None of them had pictures of 8
glorious sunflowers growing like a tree.

Seeds don’t do that. They don’t say, “hey, look at me, wait
till you see this.” Or maybe they do. If you listen closely.

If you get to know them.

Maybe all that magic’s humming to you after all.

And you can hum right back.

(I watched the goldfinch walk across the topmost flower this
morning, checking on the seeds. Not ready yet. And my hummingbird visits each
flower in turn. She must find something irresistible inside those big happy faces.)

It’s September - Anthea and Marigold gather and sort seeds.
And I have a feeling they know exactly what’s inside each one!

Sunday, November 8, 2015

I am fascinated
with seeds. This time of year, they’re everywhere. Little maracas on the ends
of my lily stems, long dangling pods on my cleome, and the teardrop jewels from
the morning glory.

It is
fascinating to see them all. It’s a song of abundance. You can hold an entire
field in your hand. Mother Nature is not stingy. Not at all.

From one seed – a
thousand.

And she’s crafty
too. The hickory nut is a clever arrangement of nimble hinges that lead to the
treasure within.

Zinnias, so delicate,
they feel and look like tiny scraps of tissue in your hand. Cosmos can be
gathered, and scattered for that matter, by simply brushing over their dried
faces.….long, slender, crescent moons – how could that be a seed? How could feathery leaves and pink and white
flowers sit inside that tiny crescent moon? It must be a fairytale.

No, ….. magic.

No, ……Love. Yeah, that must be the answer.

This is the morning glory seed.

And this, the clever milkweed.

I don’t grow
impatiens from seeds, but I do love playing with the seed pods. The tiniest
brush and POP! the pillow explodes, turning inside out, sending seeds
everywhere. Clever strategy.Like the
milk weed – each seed comes equipped with its own fluffy white parachute. A
gust of wind and off he goes, sailing who knows where.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

It is time for the spring flowers to show their faces.The bloodroot with it’s broad white petals
and narrow stem. They decorate the rocky ditches along side my morning walk. If
you dig one up, you will see the tuberous root “bleeds” red when disturbed. It
can be used as a natural dye for wool yarns. I have 4 or 5 in my grove that
transplanted quite happily, and I adore them this time of year.

There is also the lovely Rue Anemone. Small, delicate white flowers perch on fragile stems. The leaves resemble a kitty’s paw!

The leaves of the bloodroot, a lily pad.

Rue Anemone

It is also time for the Spring Beauty to remind us that
spring always follows winter – even very tough winters. Sweet, daisy-like white
petals are decorated with the finest pinstripe of pink that you need to get up
close and personal to appreciate.

Spring Beauty

These flowers sing in the breeze…… hang in there a little
longer, look what’s ahead…… That’s the message of spring……hang in there, trust
in the unseen, it is more glorious than you can imagine.

A Ruby Crowned Kinglet, swift as a
fairy, comes to say hello. He
knows he is one of my favorites, and he knows where to find me. His diminutive size says nothing about his personality. With wings like a hummingbird, he
hovers about the goldenrod, though for bugs or seeds I could not tell.

There is no fear.

He simply searches out what he
knows he will find.

A fascinating movie he makes. The white ring around his eye, the streak
of red that makes him royalty.

He is a welcome visitor, gracing
the meadow only during migration.
He has a brethren, the Golden Crowned Kinglet, which I have yet to see. Perhaps if I wait long enough, I will
create one.

About Me

What can I say, I learn most of my lessons in the garden. My grandfather owned a farm and there was just nothing better than spending time in the barn with all that hay, a couple of velvety cows and always-new barn kitties. To me, Nature is like a big fat hug.
I'm still looking for my own barn, but in the meantime I've got a wonderful meadow full of all kinds of interesting critters and a colorful and crazy garden. I've been blessed with the most amazing and beautiful cat in the world (yes, Marigold is modeled after him!). And now, we've got three new kittens in our life. If that isn't cool enough, my husband, Rob, and I spend our days writing and painting pictures for children's books and visiting with kids nice enough to read them. If that's you, well, thanks! Thanks a lot, in fact. All in all, I just feel pretty darn lucky.